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With the deal between News Corp and Dow Jones finally over, Rupert Murdoch is focusing on the Wall Street Journal. To this end, he has already “outsourced” the European and Asian operations to his son and heir.

In addition to all the changes to the Journal’s print edition, Murdoch plans to make the online edition free. Apart from porn sites and MMOs, the WSJO was the only online service the managed to charge a subscription fee - for a total of $50 million in revenue.

Murdoch’s plans include broadening the appeal of the site and switching the revenue model to advertising. Industry experts doubt WSJO will reach $50 million in advertising any time soon, especially when projections for 2008 seem rather gloomy.

This bit from Kevin expresses one reader’s concerns:

Mr. Murdoch has said that he wanted The Journal to step up its coverage of politics and national and international affairs, making it a more direct competitor to The New York Times. He has lobbied for more hard news and more succinct articles — a marked shift in tone for a newspaper whose signatures include long, often quirky news features that start on the front page…

I, for one, often enjoy the front page, long quirky articles. I find those articles to be a refreshing break from the constant barrage of facts, figures, and strong opinions. Moving along to the free with advertising versus subscription based model, I favor the latter. I do not want to be constantly bombarded with advertisements that I need to move out of my way to read an article. I prefer a clean, uncluttered look.

Tags: journal, murdoch, news, news corp, online, television, WSJ